Looking to leave her mark
A data whiz with a lively sense of humor who managed to do two internships.
College of Business
‘My favorite class was Database Design with Dr. John Guo. That was when I was sure that I was in the right major for me. Everything he taught was applicable for later on. I’m already finding that to be true.’
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Kristina Truong Major: Computer Information Systems |
How competitive has your academic experience been?
For my major, CIS, I genuinely feel like everyone is willing to help out everyone else. It’s really team-based and especially in COB 300, we are forced to work in teams so that we get a sense of working in the real world. I admit that I didn’t agree 100 percent with everyone all of the time, but those experiences will really set me up well when I graduate and start working. It gave me a newfound respect for business students from many of the majors that are different from mine.
So you’re happy with CIS?
When I first chose this major, I just heard that I would get a job after I graduated. The reason I stayed in it is because I think that the way the world is moving, it’s all about technology—and to be able to combine my innovation with technology is a really cool print to leave.
What’s your dream job?
I really want to be a data scientist. We are always on social media, so each of us has a huge digital footprint and there’s all this raw data. That data can be used to predict future outcomes, as well as evidence for why things happened in the past. With all this data that is being collected, it seems a shame not to utilize it for good.
What would an example of this look like?
When I interned at the Federal Reserve Board, I was able to help with a really interesting problem that they had. I worked for the Human Resource Analytics Team, and helped them investigate a recent fluctuation in terminations. They gave me what seemed like random data, and I was able to link it back to this one office in one city. So, looking at data that you wouldn’t naturally connect together any other way and then using it to help come up with a potential answer to a potentially complex problem is really cool, I think.
Do you know what’s next?
Yes. I actually accepted a job with Captech, a commercial consulting firm. I’m going to do some technology consulting there. I begin work in July. To say that I’m excited would be quite an understatement.
